LESSON SIXTEEN
THE BUILDING UP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

Eph. 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,

Eph. 4:16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.

The building up of the Body of Christ is by the Body’s growth. We all need to grow that the Body may be built up. If we grow, the Body grows, and the Body grows for its building up.

BY ITS MEMBERS BEING PERFECTED
TO DO THE WORK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT MINISTRY

The growth of the Body is by the Body’s members being perfected to do the work of the New Testament ministry—the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). Not only in Christianity but also among us, very often the saints cannot function in the meetings. The reason for this is that we are short of growth. If we are growing day by day, we will be living. Then when we come to the meetings, either we will offer a prayer or we will say, “Praise the Lord!” This indicates that we are living. But today’s situation is for the most part not like this. I have attended prayer meetings where the saints and even the leading ones came in five, ten, or fifteen minutes after the scheduled time. As a result, the entire meeting was deadened. It is impossible for a church in this condition to be built up. We all need to be living, to be growing, day by day. Then the whole church will grow, and this growth equals the building.

Through the growth of the Body all the members are perfected to do the work of the New Testament ministry. This work is done not by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, or shepherd-teachers, but by the ordinary, common members of the Body of Christ. When each member is perfected to do the work of the New Testament ministry, all the members will know how to build up the Body. The building up is the New Testament work. If all the saints are carrying out the work of the ministry, the meetings will become living.

IN THE LIFE OF GOD

The building up of the Body is by the Body’s growth in the life of God (Col. 2:19). Therefore, it is organic.

IN THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION

The building up of the Body also takes place in the process of transformation (1 Cor. 3:12). Today as we are growing, we are in the process of transformation. Spontaneously, we are being transformed. To be transformed is not to change, to adjust ourselves, or to correct ourselves. These are mere outward changes. Transformation is metabolic, something within in life.

During every meal as we take food into our stomach, digestion, a metabolic process, immediately begins to take place. For the stomach to move metabolically, it must be filled with some element. I have experienced this metabolic process in eating many times. One day after speaking in a meeting, I was physically exhausted. Twenty minutes after eating some food, I was vitalized. A metabolic process had begun to go on within me. After another ten minutes, I was even more vitalized. I was not only vitalized; I was transformed by the metabolic process within me. This is an illustration of transformation. We need to grow that we may be transformed. After being transformed, we are suitable for the building up of the Body of Christ.

BY THE BUILDING UP OF ITSELF

Ephesians 4:16 says that the Body grows unto the building up of itself. This means that the growth of the Body is the Body’s building up of itself.

BY BEING JOINED TOGETHER THROUGH EVERY JOINT OF THE RICH
SUPPLY

The Body builds up itself by being joined together through every joint of the rich supply (Eph. 4:16b). These joints of the rich supply are the gifted persons, as mentioned in Ephesians 4:11: the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. These gifted persons are rich joints, full of Christ as the life supply. They are a factor to join the saints together. This is the first kind of joining together.

BY BEING KNIT TOGETHER THROUGH THE OPERATION IN THE MEASURE OF EACH ONE PART

The Body builds up itself also by being knit together through the operation in the measure of each one part (Eph. 4:16b). This is the second kind of joining. The first kind of joining, the joining through the joints of the rich supply, is like putting pieces together to form the frame of a building. After framing a building, there are many openings that need to be filled. The second kind of joining, the knitting together through the operation of each one part, is like filling in all the openings after a building has been framed. Knitting is to interweave until all the openings are filled up by the interwoven pieces.

The parts of the Body that are knit, or interwoven, together are not the gifted persons but the common members of the Body. The gifted persons are joined together to form the frame; the common parts function in their measure to be knit and interwoven in order to fill up all the holes. This is not merely a doctrine; I have practiced this, I saw this, and I experienced this. It is possible. If you have the heart, pray to the Lord: “Lord, have mercy upon me and grant me the adequate grace. I want to live You organically.” Then go and meet together with the saints in your place. There may be a number of other saints who are the same as you are. As you meet together there will be a growth among you. This growth equals the building. Some gifted persons will be joined together to form the frame, and the rest will do their part by functioning in their measure. In this way the church is built up.

IN LOVE

The Body of Christ also builds up itself in love (Eph. 4:16c). The little phrase in love is used in the book of Ephesians six times (1:4; 3:17; 4:2, 15, 16; 5:2). God chose us in eternity in love (1:4). His predestinating us unto sonship in eternity past was also in love (v. 5). Without love God would not have chosen or predestinated us. Today we need to grow in love, and we also need to build up the Body in love. We love the Lord, we love the church, and we love every member. Regardless of how weak certain members may be, or even how evil they may be, we love them because they are members. Our attitude should be that we do not like to expose them. We desire instead to cover them in love. This is growth and this is building. (The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, ch. 5)

References: The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, ch. 5; The Constitution and the Building Up of the Body of Christ, chs. 3-6